Baja: Free Time

After our home visits, we had a free afternoon and evening.  For lunch, we returned to the fish taco stand.  There is also a shrimp taco stand, not too far away, but I wasn’t able to try one this time around.

Next door, a guy was making a fresh batch of chicharrones.  One of our team members bought a bag and shared, but we declined.

Just around the corner is an outdoor market where people sell trinkets and souvenirs.

D and I bought a couple of hacky sacks for the kids and a swordfish figurine that now resides in our kitchen.

The kids here are very aggressive about trying to get you to buy things.  They were following us around with puppy dog eyes.

Our final stop was for paletas.  D and I shared a coconut-chocolate dipped-peanut one, and fresh mango with big mango chunks.  Yum!

Next was an outing to the beach, just about five minutes away by van.  This is where D ran to every morning.

There were tons of smooth rocks.

Our celebration dinner was at Don Diego’s. 

Shrimp with garlic butter

Fish-Vera Cruz style

Flan and pecan pie

On Saturday we were ready to go home just after 6 a.m.  We had to make some extra stops, and it ended up taking us about ten hours, without a lunch break!  I think we waited at the border about 1.5 hours. 

Here are a couple of yogurt drinks we picked up for breakfast—mango and coffee. 

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  It was nice to serve alongside D and my church family.  This was my first mission trip since high school.  It was inspiring to see families with older kids go together, and I hope that D and I can bring k and n someday. 

Baja Day #6: Home Visits

On Friday morning, the team made surprise visits to past home builds to check in with the families, say hi, and bring some food.  I’m not sure I would want 40+ people unexpectedly coming over to my home, but the families we visited were all very welcoming and seemed happy to see us.

But first, Friday morning was our last meal at IDT: scrambled eggs, tortillas, rice, and fruit.

These pictures are from the first house build.  (This is where D went on Wednesday to re-roof).  The woman who lives there started a house church, and they meet in the courtyard in between her new house and her old house.  Pretty cool.

The following picture are from last year’s house build.  Everyone loved the color of this one: Newport Blue.  This house was so neat and tidy!

The next family seems very resourceful.  Notice how they made a screen door, made their own toothbrush “station”, keep chickens and ducks and rigged their own irrigation system for growing food. 

The last house struck me as being very decorative and homey.

They even painted the interior walls, which makes a big difference, I think. 

I thought it was nice how our church has been able to maintain a relationship with the families we have built for.  I hope that we will be able to continue doing so for many years to come. 

Baja Day #5: Dedication Day

Breakfast: potatoes, tortillas, and fruit.  I should show this picture to my kids since I don’t think they’ve ever eaten anything but seedless watermelon! 

When we arrived at the jobsite, Dean, one of our team members, took the families out to a restaurant for breakfast.  This was the first time they had ever eaten at a restaurant!  His job was to keep the families away from the houses so that we could furnish them on the inside before they came back. 

Dean did a good job, so while we were waiting around, we took some team pics:

The Gen Xers (that’s us) and the Gen Yers.

The men.

The women. 

When the families returned, we welcomed them through a human tunnel. 

With the help of a translator, Gerald conducted a dedication ceremony for each of the families.  He reminded the families that these houses were a gift from God, and that all glory should be given to Him.  This young couple is expecting their first baby (a girl) next month!

Roger, a talented woodworker at our church, made these lovely signs for the front of the houses. 

This was my favorite day of the house build, for obvious reasons.  I also enjoyed helping to make the inside of the houses a “home”.  I made beds and laid out the clothes that we brought.  It was a lot of stuff, and the families are always surprised, because they think they are just receiving a house. 

This room is dark because the family did not want windows on this side due to a neighbor who sometimes gets drunk and throws rocks.  We wired the houses for electricity, but they are off the “grid” so it won’t function until the power lines come closer to their property. 

Three generations.

Little Paloma with the key to her new house.  Love those cheeks!

Showers were delivered.  There is no plumbing—it is basically a bucket system, but a great improvement from what they had before, which was basically a tub of water outside. 

The clothesline turned out nice.  I liked the cheery clothespins from Daiso. 

Earlier in the week, the families persolnaized their outhouses.

As a reminder, here is where one of the families was living beforehand.  I cannot even imagine how different it will be for them to live in their new house. 

Afterward, the VBS team held a hot dog lunch at the local church.  I ended up in the van that went for a fish taco run.

Wow, these were so good.  My favorite tacos of the week.  Hot and fresh from the fryer.  Two tacos were plenty for me.  A couple of the young guys ate NINE.

Afterwards we stopped at the candy store to browse.  I thought these large Coke cans were interesting.  Wonder why they don’t sell them in the U.S.?  (I placed the small cans on top to show the scale). 

That afternoon/evening, my stomach wasn’t doing too well.  Let’s just say I had to see “Dr.” Miles again, this time for some Immodium.  The team went out for tortas (one of my favorites, darn), but I stayed behind in my cabin, eating saltines and rice crackers.  Thankfully, I felt better almost immediately, and I was fine for the rest of the trip.